Wrexham & Shropshire, Part 1

After a long gestation period of behind the scenes legalities under the Open Access regulations, the Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway started crew training operations in February 2008. These operations involved training on both traction and route knowledge, initially in two separate areas - Banbury to Marylebone and Wolverhampton to Wrexham. These are pictures from the Banbury to Marylebone section taken during the initial period up to introduction of the actual services in April 2008. Further training runs took place around the Birmingham area using a Class 121 "bubblecar" as the WSMR trains were likely to use any of the several routes available, though "moderation of competition" rules meant that restrictions on station stops precluded potentially lucrative custom from this area. Further pictures will be added in more collections covering the development of the railway, which became one of the most popular services in the country in terms of customer satisfaction, followed by its premature demise for reasons too complex to go into here...

The afternoon up run of the WS&MR training special, 5Z23, 14:02 from Banbury to Marylebone is headed by 67014 in the new W&S livery, with 67013 dead on the rear of the train. This is just south of Dorton, at the point where the up and down lines diverge from each other for the former non-conflicting Ashendon Junction. 14:28, Thursday 10th April 2008. Photo taken from a public footpath across the line, complete with central refuge between the tracks. Digital Image No. IMGP4479.